Amos Lee received some solid critical notice for his first two Blue Note records and made it through to create a third -- an accomplishment in and of itself these days. As they were described, these albums walked some strange line between Neil Young, Bill Withers, and James Taylor. That's some heavy company to keep for a young man who used to be a schoolteacher. Last Days at the Lodge isn't a radical departure. Produced by Don Was, Lee's studio band includes guitar slinger Doyle Bramhall II, no less a keyboardist than Spooner Oldham, bassist Pino Palladino, and drummer James Gadson. All of these cats are super-choppers. The guests include the ubiquitous Greg Leisz on pedal steel and banjo, and a slew of keyboard players including Was, Justin Stanley, Rami Jaffee, and Jamie Muhoberac. Musically, the soul tunes on this set are far more interesting than anything else -- Lee's got a terrific voice to exploit, but he seldom does it and it's a shame. Check the honey-dripping babymaker Won't Let Me Go, with a sweet string arrangement by Larry Gold and Lee doing his best Ron Isley and Al Green combination. Then there's the more baroque Terry Callier touches on Baby I Want You, which begins as a subtle folk-blues but becomes a gorgeous guitar-fueled soul number. These cuts are numbers two and three in the sequence; they create a very deep and genuine emotional vibe that stands in stark contrast to the opener. Listen is Lee playing a sloppy, minor-key guitar rocker that feels like David Crosby singing a ZZ Top song they wrote for CSNY. Thankfully, this dreadfully dull moment is the only one of its kind here.

1		Listen
2		Won't Let Me Go
3		Baby I Want You
4		Truth
5		What's Been Going On
6		Street Corner Preacher
7		It Started to Rain
8		Jails and Bombs
9		Kid
10		Ease Back
11		Better Days

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